Acquisitions and Donations
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends, the Addlestone Library added the following books to our collection in 2008.
Histoire Naturelle by George Louis Leclerc de Buffon
(1749-1778); first edition
Buffon’s masterpiece described all that was known about the natural world in the 18th century, including the relationships along species, the age of the earth and the sources of biological variation. Charles Darwin credited Buffon as “the first author who in modern times has treated [natural selection] in a scientific spirit.” The Addlestone Library’s edition of Histoire Naturelle consists of 36 beautifully-illustrated volumes and complements the already-impressive collection of natural history works, including those of John James Audubon, Mark Catesby, John Gould and Alexander Wilson.
The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
(1788); first edition
These pamphlets are a masterpiece of political philosophy and the primary document left by the framers of the Constitution. 
The early trustees of the College of Charleston included three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Heyward, Arthur Middleton and Edward Rutledge, and three framers of the Constitution, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and John Rutledge. By some accounts, most notably his own, Charles Pinckney contended he had submitted a draft, known as the Pinckney Plan, that was the basis of the final Constitution. Although most historians have rejected this assertion, they do recognize that Pinckney was among the leaders who produced our Constitution.
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
(1859); first edition
This seminal work in biology argues that populations evolve over time through natural selection. No single work more aptly completes the College’s remarkable collection of 19th century natural history than this title. Not only does it compliment the works of Audubon and Gould, but also is a companion piece to his very rare and quite vivid memoir, The Voyage of the Beagle, which the library is fortunate to own.
Voyages by Captain James Cook
(1773-1784); first edition
These journals document Cook’s discoveries as he led the first scientific expedition financed by a national government. He explored, as he intended, farther than anyone ever had or ever could on earth, as nearly as possible from pole to pole. He was first to circumnavigate Antarctica and New Zealand, and he mapped New Zealand more accurately than any previously unexplored region had ever been recorded. He established that no undiscovered continent could exist in the Pacific. He established new standards for navigation and for maintaining health at sea. His travel accounts are among the best ever written for their insights and their prose, and his anthropological accounts are models of observation. Special Collections’ edition also includes an exquisite atlas of his travels.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends, the Addlestone Library added the following books to our collection in 2007.
Histories by Herodotus
(Venice: Aldine, 1502); first edition.
Considered by many to be the first great prose writer of western civilization history, Herodotus documented the origins of the Greco-Persian wars, which took place in 490 and 480-79 BC. This Aldine edition is the first printing of Herodotus in the original Greek and one of only 25 in existence.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends, the Addlestone Library added the following books to our collection in 2006.
Flora Boreali – Americana, Sistens Caracteres Plantarum quas in America Septentrionali Collegit et Dextexit by André Michaux
(Paris: Levrault, 1803); two volumes bound together with 51 engraved plates.
For the French government, André Michaux collected plants throughout the United States from 1785-1796, and he established an arboretum in Charleston. This illustration of the Pinckneya pupens was engraved by P. J. Redouté.
Ichthyology of South Carolina by John Edwards Holbrook
(Charleston: Russell and Jones, 1860), volume 1 (205 pp. and 28 hand-colored lithographs).
Dr. Holbrook was a member of the Faculty of the Medical College of South Carolina, and he had previously published a multivolume study entitled North American Herpetology (1842), which the Library already owned. He began a study of Southern fishes, but most copies were lost in a fire. He started over and limited himself to fishes found in South Carolina, but was only able to publish a rare first volume. This illustration is of the Red-bellied Perch (Ichthelis rubricauda), a fish found widely in South Carolina and also found from Georgia to Massachusetts
Military Costume of Turkey
(London: Thos. McLean, 1818).
This folio volume contains 32 hand-colored prints that were engraved from “drawings made on the spot.” In 1818, the Ottoman Empire controlled the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa with a force of an estimated 400,000 soldiers.
Monthly Review and Literary Miscellany of the United States
(Charleston: Gabriel M. Bounetheau), 1806; volume 1 (424 pages).
Only one volume of this national journal was published. Its contents include essays, poetry, reviews, useful inventions, and notes. Only two other copies of this extremely rare Charleston imprint are known to exist.
Quadrupeds of North America by John James Audubon and John Bachman
(New York: V. G. Audubon, 1851-1854).
This is the royal octavo edition that was issued with hand-colored lithographs in three volumes. After Audubon completed the Birds of America, he asked the Rev. Dr. Bachman to prepare the text for a comprehensive study of American land mammals. Dr. Bachman was pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Charleston, and he had published type descriptions of many of the mammals that were to be included. This illustration is of the Cougar (Felis concolor), the College’s mascot.
